Hellickson dominating Padres at Petco Park (Nats win 4-0)

SAN DIEGO - If Jeremy Hellickson wanted to make sure he gets to face a lineup for the third time, he's sure doing everything he can tonight to keep Davey Martinez in the dugout and the Nationals bullpen quiet.

Hellickson has retired the first 15 Padres batters he's faced, cruising through five perfect innings on only 69 pitches.

The veteran right-hander, who has pre-emptively been pulled from his last two starts before being allowed to face the opposing lineup a third time through, is making his case to go deeper in this one with a combination of dominance and efficiency against a San Diego club that was no-hit by four Dodgers pitchers only four days ago in Monterrey, Mexico.

Hellickson didn't face any close calls in any of his first four innings. Two Padres drove balls to the warning track in the fifth, but each was hauled in with relative ease.

Shut down for four innings themselves by Clayton Richard, the Nationals finally figured out the left-hander in the fifth. Howie Kendrick singled to lead off the inning, then raced all the way around to score on the latest impact hit by Matt Adams.

Given a chance to make a rare start against a lefty because he's been so productive for the last week, Adams rewarded Martinez for the vote of confidence. Adams lashed a line drive to the gap in left-center, easily reached second base for a double and then, when the throw came to the plate, kept racing around the bases til he slid safely into third with the evening's first run.

Moments later, Pedro Severino sent a sharp single into left field to bring Adams home and make it 2-0, giving Hellickson some cushion after a nip-and-tuck first four innings to this game.

Update: Make it 18 up, 18 down for Hellickson on a scant 79 pitches. He has seven strikeouts and is coasting. This is getting mighty interesting, folks.

Update II: Well, you just knew something was going to happen once Hellickson faced the Padres lineup for the third time, didn't you? Sure enough, Travis Jankowski led off the bottom of the seventh with a groundball single up the middle, ending a most unlikely perfect game bid. Hellickson got two quick outs after that, but when Franchy Cordero drove a ball into the left field corner to leave runners at second and third, Martinez made the walk to the mound and signaled for his bullpen. Hellickson departed having allowed two hits and zero walks in 6 2/3 innings, throwing 91 pitches, a standout performance. And when Ryan Madson got Jose Pirela to ground out to short, the seventh inning was over with the Nats holding a 3-0 lead.

Update III: The Nats tacked on a run in the top of the ninth, with Andrew Stevenson lofting a sacrifice fly to center to score Ryan Zimmerman and make it 4-0. And with a four-run lead now, Martinez decided to let Sean Doolittle (who had been warming) take a seat and bring in Wander Suero to close it out. Which Suero did. Nats win 4-0, their ninth win in 10 games. They remain 1 1/2 games back in the National League East, but have leapfrogged over the Mets into third place behind the Braves and Phillies.